The birth of what would become the Overture to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) was a conversation between Pastor Phil Campbell and Dr. Walter Soboleff in 2011. Pastor Phil was moved by the pain Dr. Soboleff still felt at the closing of Memorial Presbyterian Church so many years before and inspired to seek justice. With the support of the Native Ministries Committee and the Church Council, Pastor Phil began piecing the story together from the records of the Alaska Presbytery, the Board of National Missions, Northern Light Presbyterian Church, and Memorial Presbyterian Church. He shared what he learned at Sealaska’s Walter Soboleff Day observance in 2015. Pastor Phil and the Council started to discern how to repair the harms caused by the closure of Memorial Presbyterian Church.
In 2017, the NLUC congregation began the process of identifying appropriate ways to address the Memorial Presbyterian Church’s closure. Later that year, the Council supported the idea of installing Tlingit house posts in the church. The Native Ministries Committee continued to explore the history of what happened. Joaqlin Estus, Tlingit, a nationally recognized journalist and a former member of Northern Light United Church, wrote “Segregation of Faith,” for the Alaska Federation of Natives Annual Meeting edition of First Alaskans Magazine in October 2019.
When Pastor Faith McClellan, then the minister of Northern Light United Church, read “Segregation of Faith” she was inspired to suggest that the church offer an Overture to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), through the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast, seeking recognition and reparations for the wounds caused by the closure of Memorial Presbyterian Church.
The Native Ministries Committee created an Overture Sub-Committee to develop a proposal to send to the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast. Lillian Petershoare and Tim Lash served as co-convenors, with Maxine Richert, Myra Munson, and Phil Campbell. Their thoughtful and prayerful work resulted a comprehensive telling of the story of Memorial Presbyterian Church, the truth of its closure and the intergenerational harm caused, and the scriptural basis for the call for reparations.
Maxine Richert, who grew up in the Memorial Presbyterian Church and is a leader of our church, was an eloquent and unyielding advocate for the Overture. She spoke to the Presbytery, and to the bodies of the General Assembly, joining Phil Campbell and other advocates’ voices to raise the call for justice.
Watch Maxine Richert’s video presentation about the Overture.
